1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to wireless communications and, more particularly, wideband wireless communication systems.
2. Related Art
Communication systems are known to support wireless and wire lined communications between wireless and/or wire lined communication devices. Such communication systems range from national and/or international cellular telephone systems to the Internet to point-to-point in-home wireless networks. Each type of communication system is constructed, and hence operates, in accordance with one or more communication standards. For instance, wireless communication systems may operate in accordance with one or more standards, including, but not limited to, IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth, advanced mobile phone services (AMPS), digital AMPS, global system for mobile communications (GSM), code division multiple access (CDMA), local multi-point distribution systems (LMDS), multi-channel-multi-point distribution systems (MMDS), and/or variations thereof.
Depending on the type of wireless communication system, a wireless communication device, such as a cellular telephone, two-way radio, personal digital assistant (PDA), personal computer (PC), laptop computer, home entertainment equipment, etc., communicates directly or indirectly with other wireless communication devices. For direct communications (also known as point-to-point communications), the participating wireless communication devices tune their receivers and transmitters to the same channel or channels (e.g., one of a plurality of radio frequency (RF) carriers of the wireless communication system) and communicate over that channel(s). For indirect wireless communications, each wireless communication device communicates directly with an associated base station (e.g., for cellular services) and/or an associated access point (e.g., for an in-home or in-building wireless network) via an assigned channel. To complete a communication connection between the wireless communication devices, the associated base stations and/or associated access points communicate with each other directly, via a system controller, via a public switched telephone network (PSTN), via the Internet, and/or via some other wide area network.
Each wireless communication device includes a built-in radio transceiver (i.e., receiver and transmitter) or is coupled to an associated radio transceiver (e.g., a station for in-home and/or in-building wireless communication networks, RF modem, etc.). As is known, the transmitter includes a data modulation stage, one or more intermediate frequency stages, and a power amplifier. The data modulation stage converts raw data into baseband signals in accordance with the particular wireless communication standard. The one or more intermediate frequency stages mix the baseband signals with one or more local oscillations to produce RF signals. The power amplifier amplifies the RF signals prior to transmission via an antenna.
As is also known, the receiver is coupled to the antenna and includes a low noise amplifier, one or more intermediate frequency stages, a filtering stage, and a data recovery stage. The low noise amplifier receives an inbound RF signal via the antenna and amplifies it. The one or more intermediate frequency stages mix the amplified RF signal with one or more local oscillations to convert the amplified RF signal into a baseband signal or an intermediate frequency (IF) signal. As used herein, the term “low IF” refers to both baseband and intermediate frequency signals. A filtering stage filters the low IF signals to attenuate unwanted out of band signals to produce a filtered signal. The data recovery stage recovers raw data from the filtered signal in accordance with the particular wireless communication standard.
One approach to using a higher intermediate frequency is to convert the RF signal to an intermediate frequency sufficiently low to allow the integration of on-chip channel selection filters. For example, some narrow band or low data rate systems, such as Bluetooth, use this low intermediate frequency design approach.
Active mixers used in direct conversion radios, as well as radios that employ an intermediate conversion step typically comprise input transconductance elements, switches and an output load. These active mixers often have varying output signal characteristics due to environmental conditions, such as temperature, and process and manufacturing variations. These varying output signal characteristics can, for example, result in a mixer producing an errant local oscillation signal that affects the accuracy of an output signal's frequency. Having inaccurate output frequencies can result in many undesirable outcomes, including unwanted signal filtering by a downstream filter.
Other approaches are also being pursued to achieve the design goal of building entire radios on a single chip. With all of the foregoing design goals, however, there is being realized an increasing need for additional frequency bands for use by radio receivers and transmitters of all types. Along these lines, a frequency band that has heretofore been reserved exclusively for radar systems is being opened for use for at least some types of wireless communication systems. Among other systems, wireless local area network (LAN) systems are being developed to take advantage of the frequency band that is being opened up which has been reserved for radar. One design issue, however, that accompanies any wireless LAN device that operates in this frequency band is that of coexistence with radar systems. More specifically, a need exists for a wireless LAN transceiver to give priority to a radar when a radar operation is detected. Accordingly, the wireless LAN, in such a scenario, would be required to detect a radar signal within a specified response time and to communicate over a non-overlapping frequency band thereto.
Along these lines, recent changes to government regulations will allow wireless LANs (WLANs) to share frequency spectrum with licensed radar systems. Specifically, the frequency bands 5.25-5.35 GHz and 5.27-5.75 GHz will be open in Europe, and perhaps worldwide at some point in the future. Since these frequency bands are shared, the wireless LANs will be required to take a subordinate role to the licensed radar systems. This includes the incorporation of dynamic frequency selection (DFS) within the WLAN that will avoid spectrum that is occupied by a radar. What is needed, therefore, is a circuit and method for determining when a radar signal is present.